Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1887-09-15
are as smooth and polished as the best

are as smooth and polished as the best
glazed chinaware; at times they are
pure white, then again they are banded
and striped with every hue Of the rain
bow. 1t seems pity that such beau
ties should be so small and hidden SO
far from the eyes of men.
On this great bed of mud the most
remarkable creatures live in vast num-
bers. There are serpent-like starfshes,
beautiful branching corals, ugly black
fishes, pure white, ''sea-cucumbers, !"
bright pink, purple and red sea anem-
ones, and a host of other creatures.
The fishes are always strange and un-
couth, with huge mouths and stomachs
all in one, but with the tail hardly
noticeable. When the fishes are
brought to the surface their air blad-
ders and stomachs protrude from their
mouths, their eyes bulge out and the
blood is forced through the skin. Life
has been crushed out of them by the
sudden change of pressure, the gases
within having burst the tissues and
body walls asunder. The tremendous
pressure of the water was well shown
by lowering an empty bottle, which
was crushed to atoms.
There is very curious deep sea ami
NAL allied to our interesting hermit OF
soldier crabs. These fellows have a
soft and unprotected tail, and one of
the first moves after birth is to rush
about for deserted sea snail shell to
cover their unprotected parts. This
shell the hermit carries about wherev-
er it goes, taking new one now and
then whenever it outgrows its old
home. This house moving is incon-
venient, for as soon as the hermit ex-
poses his soft tail to the gaze of. his
fellow crabs they are apt to give it a
nip, and our hermit may find himself
tailless, and hence of no use in this
world for with the tail goes the stom'
ach. Besides, in the deep sea deserted
shells are not very common, and oul
hermit may find himself without {
home when he most needs one. Borr
in the same waters there is a ell
rious polyp, or sea anemonc, mid
way, scientifically speaking, between {
true anemone and coral polyp Un
like the ordinary sea anemone, it
body walls are filled with sand, Sc
that il does not form good food fo
fishes. Shortly after birth this anem
one, which has been swimming
around for few days, is seized will
an uncomfortable desire to settle il
life, and accordingly he runs plum
against the shell of a hermit crab. HI
very seldom misses his mark. and i'm
mediately com nences tying himsel
on to stay. He grows rapidly, and il
few days has completely surrounde'
our hermit's shell, leaving the openin,
above uncovered. The next step is t.
absorb the hard shell, and all this j
accomplished before the hermit ha
felt the necessity of change of resi-
dence. Once having the hard shel
absorbed our anemone does not Pre-
pose that the crab shall leave it, so h
commences growing slowly, just keep
ing pace with the growth of the hel
nit. So the two live together throug
life, each doing the other favor, tn
hermit carrying the anemone fror
place to place and probably leavin
bits of food for its satisfaction now an
then, while the anomone furnishes tn
hermit with comfortable, transports
BILE house, which grows to suit tn
growing demands of the tenant.